Sūrat al-Layl (, "The Night") is the ninety-second sūrah (chapter) of the Qur'an, containing twenty-one āyāt (verses). This sūrah is one of the first ten to be revealed in Mecca. It contrasts two types of people, the charitable and the miserly, and describes each of their characteristics.
Summary 1-4 Oaths by various natural objects 5-13 The obedient blessed and the covetous accursed 14-16 The covetous warned with hell-fire 17-21 True believers shall be rewarded hereafter
Date of the revelations
Sūrah Al-Lail is a Meccan sura, and was among the first ten surahs to be revealed. Meccan surahs are chronologically earlier surahs that were revealed to Muhammad at Mecca before the hijrah to Medina in 622 CE. They are typically shorter, with relatively short ayat, and mostly come near the end of the Qur'an's 114 sūwar. Most of the surahs containing muqatta'at are Meccan. According to Yusuf Ali, Al-Lail may be placed in the dating period close to Surat Al-Fajr and Ad-Dhuha (93). It is similar in subject matter to the chapter preceding it, Ash-Shams (91).
Theme and subject matter The mufassirūn (Quranic commentators) note a similarity that in all of the aforementioned three suras the wonder and contrast between night and day are appealed to for the consolation of man in his spiritual yearning. According to an interpretation expounded on in the tafsīr (commentary) written by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (d. 1979) entitled Tafhim al-Qur'an, the primary theme of Surat al-Lail is distinguishing between two different ways of life and explaining the contrast between their ultimate ends and results.Maududi, S., Tafhim al-Qur'an Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), who was an Egyptian author, Islamist, and leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, surmised the overall theme of Surat Al-Lail in the introduction to his extensive Quranic commentary, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the shades of the Qur'an) by saying:
Within a framework of scenes taken from the universe and the realm of human nature, this surah states emphatically the basic facts of action and reward. This issue had diverse aspects... The end in the hereafter is also varied, according to the type of action and the direction taken in this life... The subject matter of the surah, i.e., action and reward, is by nature double directional, so the framework chosen for it at the beginning of the surah is of dual coloring. It is based on contrasting aspects in the creation of man and the universe.
—Sayid Qutb, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an
According to an account from the book A Comprehensive Commentary on the Quran, translated by George Sale, Jalal ad-Din as-Suyūti – co-author of the classical Sunni tafsīr known as Tafsir al-Jalalayn - had speculated that this whole description belongs peculiarly to Abu Bakr; for when he had purchased Bilal ibn Rabah, the Ethiopian (afterwards Muhammad's muadhdhin, or crier to prayers), who had been put to the rack on account of his faith, the infidels said he did it only out of a view of interest; upon which this passage was revealed. However, the style and language of this chapter are against this explanation. It is best, therefore, to regard the whole as addressed to Muhammad's hearers generally.
In his book The Corân, William Muir classifies Al-Lail in a Quranic sub-category known as the Soliloquies - a literary form of discourse in which Muhammad talks to himself or reveals his thoughts without addressing a listener.Muir, W., The Corân (1920) However, Sale argues that this sūrah seems to be ruled out of that category by the statements of āyāt 14 where Muhammad appears as a warner, and therefore is entered upon his public ministry. Regarding subject matter, Sayyid Maududi suggests this surah can generally be divided into two parts, the first consisting of āyāt 1 through 11, and the second of āyāt 12 through 21.
Q92:1–11 By night and Day
Allah begins this chapter by swearing a series of oaths: by the night when it envelops the world, by the day when it illuminates and, finally by Himself who has created the male and female (92:1-3). Evidence of these three things are invoked (night, day and gender) to illustrate how the aims and activities engaged in by both individuals and nations, are, in respect to their moral nature, widely divergent. Verse 92:3 literally means, "Consider that which has created [or "creates"] the male and the female", i.e., the elements which are responsible for the differentiation between male and female. This, together with the symbolism of night and day, darkness and light, is an allusion - similar to the first ten verses of the preceding surah (Ash-Shams) - to the polarity evident in all nature and, hence, to the dichotomy (spoken of in the next verse) which characterizes man's aims and motives. Following a style common to the brief chapters, three opposing moral characteristics are presented as illustrations, providing a means from which mankind may judge which of the two lifestyles is being represented.
92:1 وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَى Wa-(a)l-laili 'idhā yaghshā By the night as it envelops 92:2 وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّى Wa-(a)n-nahāri 'idhā tajallā By the day as it appears 92:3 وَمَا خَلَقَ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى Wa mā khalaqa-(a)dh-dhakara wa-(a)l-‘unthā And (by)he who created the male and female
Traits characterizing the first type of individuals are distinguished here by three signs: (1) sacrificing their wealth: (2) adopting taqwa (God-consciousness): and (3) recognizing and supporting all that is morally correct (wa şaddaqa bi-(a)l-ĥusnā). The second character type – described in verses 8 through 10 - are also distinguished by three signs: they are miserly and do not give of their wealth; they are arrogant and think themselves independent of Allah's Will (92:8); and (3) knowingly dishonoring Truth out of spite, or seeing ugliness where there is beauty. Then, it is stated that these two modes of action, which are clearly divergent, cannot be equal and alike in respect to results, i.e., just as they are divergent in their nature, so they are divergent in their results.
Narrated ’Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib: We were in the company of the Prophet in a funeral procession at Baqi Al-Gharqad. He said, "There is none of you but has his place written for him in Paradise or in the Hell-Fire." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we depend (on this fact and give up work)?" He said, "Carry on doing (good deeds), for every body will find it easy to do (what will lead him to his destined place)." Then he recited:
'As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah, and believes in the Best reward from Allah (i.e. Allah will compensate him for what he will spend in Allah's way). So, We will make smooth for him the path of ease. But he who is a greedy miser... for him, the path for evil.' (92.5-10)Bukhari,
In verse 7, humans are told if they strive their utmost towards Allah, that He will provide every help and satisfaction to a “state of ease” (li-l-yusrā). People adopting the first mode of action are promised by Allāh that He will make correct behavior easy for them, to such an extent that doing good becomes easy and doing evil difficult. On the contrary, those adopting the second mode of life, Allāh will make their path difficult in this world and in the Hereafter. Consequently, performing evil actions will become easy, while doing good becomes increasingly difficult. Ibn Kathir further extrapolated on this concept:
And there are many Ayat with this meaning, proving that Allah rewards those who intend good with success, while whoever intends evil is abandoned, and all of this is in accordance with a preordained decree. There are also many Hadiths that prove this. Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Bakr that he said to the Messenger of Allah, "O Messenger of Allah! Do we act according to what has already been decided, or is the matter just beginning (i.e., still undecided)" He replied, "Indeed it is according to what has already been decided". Then Abu Bakr said, "Then what (good) are deeds, O Messenger of Allah" He replied, "Everyone will find it easy to do such deeds that will lead him to what he was created for".
—Ibn Kathir,
Thus, the first part of the surah ends having made clear that there are only two ways for all mankind in all times and places. All humanity is in two parties under two headings however numerous are their colors and forms.
Q92:12–21 Three truths stated
In the next part of this sūrah, another three truths are stated. First, verse 12 says that Allāh has not left man uninformed in the world, but has assumed responsibility for clearly showing humanity the halal (lawful) and haram (unlawful). Another interpretation given to verse 12 is that – ‘Whoever takes the path of guidance will reach Us.’
92:12 إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا لَلْهُدَى Inna ‘alainā la-(a)l-hudā Lo! Ours it is (to give) the guidance
Regarding this same verse, Qatada ibn al-Nu'man said - Truly, on Us is (to give) guidance - 'This means, We will explain what is lawful and what is prohibited.'At-Tabari 24:477 Others have said that it means, "Whoever traverses upon the path of guidance, then he will reach Allah (i.e., in the Hereafter). They consider this ayat like Allah's saying: "And upon Allah is the responsibility to explain the Straight path." This has been mentioned by Ibn Jarir.At-Tabari 24:477
92:13 وَإِنَّ لَنَا لَلْآخِرَةَ وَالْأُولَى Wa ‘inna lanā la-l-‘ākhirata wa-l-‘ūlā And truly, unto Us (belong) the last (Hereafter) and the first (this world)
Second, verse 13 contends that Allāh alone is the master of both this world and the Hereafter. If an individual seeks worldly goods, only Allāh controls whether or not it will be received. Likewise, for those seeking the Hereafter, once again it is Allāh who will provide. Now, it is up to the individual to decide what should be sought. The third truth is that the wretched ones (‘illa-l-‘ashqā) who rejected the truth when Muhammad invited them to Islam, have a blazing fire awaiting them (nāran talaźźa, or “a flaming fire”). The term used for them in verse 15 is ‘ashqā (superlative degree). Ibn Kathir includes a hadith related to this type of person: Ahmad ibn Hanbal reported Muhammad as saying “Only wretched people will go to Hell.” When asked, “Who is the wretched,” he said, “One who disobeys and does not refrain from evil out of fear of Allah.”
Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah that Muhammad said: “All of my followers will enter Paradise on the Day of Judgement except for whoever refuses.” They (the Companions) said, “Who would refuse, O Messenger of Allah,” He replied, “Whoever obeys me, he will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me, then he has refused.”Ahmad 2:361Fath Al-Bari 13:263
92:18 الَّذِى يُؤْتِى مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّى Alladhī yu’tī māla-hū yatazakkā Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification